Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP

Abstract:

The invention is directed to a method for preparing a moulded body
comprising an integrated electric circuit, to a body comprising an
integrated electric circuit, and to a device comprising the body. The
method of the invention comprises--placing one or more electrical
components in a mould and fixing the one or more electrical components;
--at least partially moulding said body using a moulding material;
--providing a conductive pattern onto said at least partially moulded
body; --providing one or more conductive interconnections onto said at
least partially moulded body; and--optionally further moulding said body,
wherein the at least partially moulding of said body, the provision of
the conductive pattern, and the provision of the one or more conductive
interconnections are carried out within said mould.

Claims:

1. Method for preparing a body comprising an integrated electric circuit,
said method comprising placing one or more electrical components in a
mould and fixing the one or more electrical components; at least
partially moulding said body using a moulding material; providing a
conductive pattern onto said at least partially moulded body; providing
one or more conductive interconnections onto said at least partially
moulded body; and optionally further moulding said body, wherein the at
least partially moulding of said body, the provision of the conductive
pattern, and the provision of the one or more conductive interconnections
are carried out within said mould.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the provision of said conductive
pattern and the provision of said one or more conductive interconnections
are carried out simultaneously.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the provision of said conductive
pattern and/or the provision of said one or more conductive
interconnections comprises an electroless plating step.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the provision of said conductive
pattern and/or the provision of said one or more conductive
interconnections comprises providing said at least partially moulded body
with a pattern of a catalyst for electroless plating of the conductive
tracks and/or with a pattern of a catalyst for electroless plating of one
or more interconnections; and metallising said pattern and/or
interconnections by electroless plating.

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein said pattern of catalyst for the
conductive tracks and/or said pattern of catalyst for the one or more
interconnections are applied onto the at least partially moulded body by
means of a patterned stamp provided with said catalyst for electroless
plating.

6. Method according to claim 4, wherein a reverse image of said pattern
of conductive tracks and/or said pattern of interconnections is pressed
into said at least partially moulded body using a patterned stamp thereby
providing said at least partially moulded body with a structured surface,
and wherein thereafter a smooth stamp with said catalyst for electroless
plating is used to apply the conductive tracks pattern and/or
interconnections pattern onto the structured surface of said at least
partially moulded body.

7. Method according to claim 4, wherein a patterned stamp is pressed into
said at least partially moulded body thereby providing said at least
partially moulded body with a structured surface, the patterned stamp is
then provided with said catalyst for electroless plating, and thereafter
the patterned stamp is used to apply the catalyst onto the structured
surface of the at least partially moulded body.

8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the provision of said conductive
pattern and/or the provision of said one or more conductive
interconnections comprises providing said at least partially moulded body
with a reverse image of said pattern and/or interconnections of
inhibition material; and metallising said pattern and/or interconnections
by electroless plating.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the reverse image of said pattern
and/or interconnections of inhibition material is applied onto said at
least partially moulded body using a patterned stamp provided with the
inhibition material.

10. Method according to claim 8, wherein a patterned stamp is pressed
into said at least partially moulded body thereby providing said at least
partially moulded body with a structured surface, and wherein thereafter
a smooth stamp with the inhibition material is used to apply the reverse
image of said pattern and/or interconnections of inhibition material onto
the structured surface of said at least partially moulded body.

11. Method according to claim 8, wherein the reverse image is pressed
into said at least partially moulded body using a patterned stamp thereby
providing said at least partially moulded body with a structured surface,
the patterned stamp is then provided with the inhibition material, and
thereafter the patterned stamp is used to apply the inhibition material
onto the structured surface of the at least partially moulded body.

12. Method according to claim 1, wherein said moulding material comprises
a catalyst for electroless plating.

13. Method according to claim 5, wherein said patterned stamp and/or said
smooth stamp are comprised in one or more parts of said mould.

14. Method according to claim 1, wherein said at least partially moulding
the body comprises a moulding process in which one or more hollows or
channels for the conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive
interconnections are made in, through and/or adjacent to the at least
partially moulded body.

15. Method according to claim 14, wherein said moulding process is a
core-pull injection moulding process in which a slide is pulled, thereby
creating the one or more hollows or channels adjacent to the at least
partially moulded body.

16. Method according to 14, wherein said moulding process is a turn-table
injection moulding process in which a mould part is applied, which mould
part has one or more hollows or channels as recesses.

17. Method according to claim 14, wherein a catalyst for electroless
plating is led through said one or more channels before leading an
electroless plating solution through said one or more channels.

18. Method according to claim 1, wherein the electrical components are
placed into the mould and fixed before at least partially moulding the
body.

19. Method according to claim 1, wherein the electrical components are
placed into the mould after at least partially moulding the body and
wherein the electrical components are fixed to the mould and/or to the at
least partially moulded body.

20. Method according to claim 3, wherein said electroless plating
comprises using an electroless plating solution that comprises metal ions
and a reducing agent for reducing the metal ions into the corresponding
metal, enabling the metal to be deposited onto the at least partially
moulded body.

21. Method according to claim 1, wherein at least the steps of at least
partially moulding of the body, providing the conductive pattern, and
providing the one or more conductive interconnections are repeated for
2-20 times.

22. Method according to claim 1, wherein the conductive pattern and/or
the one or more conductive interconnections are provided by exposing the
at least partially moulded body to an electroless plating solution, which
solution comprises metal ions and a reducing agent for reducing the metal
ions into the corresponding metal, whereby at least the surface of the at
least partially moulded body has a temperature or is heated to a
temperature (T1) which is higher than the temperature (T2) of the
electroless plating solution.

26. A body comprising an integrated electric circuit obtained by a method
according to claim 1.

27. A device comprising a body according to claim 26.

Description:

[0001] The invention is directed to a method for preparing a body
comprising an integrated electric circuit, to a body comprising an
integrated electric circuit, and to a device comprising said body.

[0002] Continually increasing functionality of integrated electrical
circuits imposes increasing demands on the manufacturing technologies.
The reliability of the most advanced electronics is becoming one of the
most important factors in limiting electrical performance. The
reliability of electronics is especially important in portable products,
because these high performance products with ever higher packaging
densities experience, in addition to their operational stress, various
environments. When producing ever higher density and higher performance
electronic devices, more fundamental limitations are also being
encountered. The solutions to these limitations will alter the presently
used manufacturing techniques.

[0003] In order to protect electrical circuits from harmful effects of the
environment (such as moisture and contaminations) the circuit can be
encapsulated in an insulating material.

[0004] Conventionally, integrated circuits are fabricated using printed
circuit board technology. This typically involves the interconnection of
active and passive components using techniques such as semi-additive
(e.g. sputtering followed by electroplating and etching; or sputtering
followed by electroplating and laser ablation) and fully additive (e.g.
photolithography followed by sputtering and electroplating; or
photolithography followed by electroplating) interconnecting, (lead-free)
soldering, reflow soldering, wire bonding, and conductive gluing.
However, these interconnection methods make the design of the device
complex, considerably limit the product possibilities and shapes, and
increase the number of manufacturing steps.

[0005] Accordingly, there have been a number of attempts to improve the
conventional printed circuit board technology for miniaturisation and
function-integration purposes. Such attempts for instance involve placing
electrical components on top of each other and making conductive tracks
using metallising techniques.

[0006] WO-A-00/67538, for instance, describes a printed circuit board
manufacturing process in which the embedded microcircuits and electrical
components are processed and interconnected solderlessly into
electrically functional devices or modules.

[0007] Nevertheless, the printed circuit board technique has a drawback in
that the form of the final electrical circuit is always imposed by the
initial flat board. It would be desirable to have a fabrication technique
for integrated electrical circuits that provides a much higher degree of
freedom with respect to the form of the product that comprises the
electrical circuit. This would allow much more flexibility in the design
and manufacturing of electronic devices.

[0008] An alternative for the printed circuit board technology is the
moulded interconnect device technology. This technology, aiming at the
combination of electrical and mechanical functions in a single body, is a
chain production technology. The moulded interconnect device technology
comprises the injection moulding of a polymeric metallisable substrate,
the metallisation of a conductive circuit on the substrate, and the
assembly of surface mount device components. Galvanic and electroless
bath plating are used in metallisation of the circuit. In the assembly
step, the interconnections between the components and the conductive
circuit are made with techniques such as (lead-free) soldering, reflow
soldering, thin film technology, thick film technology, ultrasonic wire
bonding, and conductive gluing.

[0009] As the printed board circuit technology, the moulded interconnect
device technology has the drawback that the interconnection methods
hinder the functional and free form design possibilities, as the
resulting body is essential two-dimensional in shape. An additional
disadvantage of the technology is the involvement in the manufacturing
process of several manufacturers, negatively influencing yield and
production time.

[0010] Object of the invention is to provide a novel fashion of preparing
a body with an integrated electric circuit.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to provide a method for
manufacturing a body with an integrated electrical circuit that allows a
substantial degree of freedom with respect to the form of the body.

[0012] Further object of the invention is to provide a method for
manufacturing a body having an integrated electrical circuit that is well
protected against harmful influences from the environment.

[0013] Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method for
manufacturing a body with an integrated electric circuit using a small
amount of fabrication and calibration steps.

[0014] Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a method which
incorporates the manufacturing of a body with integrated electric circuit
into the manufacturing process of a device.

[0015] It was found that one or more of these objects can be met by
manufacturing a body with an integrated electric circuit using an
in-mould fabrication technique.

[0016] Accordingly, in one aspect the invention is directed to a method
for preparing a body comprising an integrated electric circuit, said
method comprising [0017] placing one or more electrical components in a
mould and fixing the one or more electrical components; [0018] at least
partially moulding said body using a moulding material; [0019] providing
a conductive pattern onto said at least partially moulded body; [0020]
providing one or more conductive interconnections onto said at least
partially moulded body; and [0021] optionally further moulding said body,
wherein the at least partially moulding of said body, the provision of
the conductive pattern, and the provision of the one or more conductive
interconnections are carried out within said mould.

[0022] The invention allows the manufacture of mouldable products with
integrated electronics entirely within the mould. Not only can conductive
tracks be provided in the mouldable product, but also active and/or
passive electrical components can be provided in the product,
interconnections between bare and/or encapsulated components can be made,
and contact points to the outside can be realised. As a consequence of
having less production and intermediate calibration steps the process
will take shorter than conventional printed circuit board technology and
moulded interconnect device technology, and accordingly the costs will be
lower. Furthermore, the invention allows the production of high-quality
and well-integrated devices. Moreover, this entirely new approach does
not have the usually faced limitations with respect to function
integration and miniaturisation, and therefore opens a new window of
opportunities.

[0023] One step in the method of the invention is the placing of one or
more electrical components in a mould and fixing the one or more
electrical components. The components can be fixed on the inside wall of
the mould, for instance by providing the inside wall of the mould with
suitable recesses in which the components fit. Other possibilities of
fixing the components to the mould include gluing (adhesives, adhesive
tape) and mechanical clamping. It is also possible to fix the components
to a body that has previously been at least partially moulded, e.g. by
gluing and other methods such as described in US-A-2008/0 222 876. Fixing
the components ensures that the components are positioned in
pre-determined locations of the body and are not able to move away from
these locations.

[0024] In another step of the method of the invention, the body is at
least partially moulded. This step may be carried out before or after
placing and fixing the electrical components into the mould.

[0027] In order to avoid expansion problems that might occur during
moulding and future use of the resulting product, the moulding material
can comprise additives to adapt the expansion of the moulding material to
that of the material of the conductive pattern and/or of the materials of
the electrical components. If this insufficiently compensates the
differences in expansion, it is possible to use a highly filled elastic
underfill material, as is well-known from printed circuit board
technology. Such material is applied around and/or under the components
and can overcome part of the difference in expansion during fabrication
and subsequent usage.

[0028] The above-mentioned placing of the electrical components and at
least partially moulding the body result in a substrate, which can be
used for the subsequent provision of a pattern of conductive tracks for
the electrical circuit, and the provision of one or more interconnections
for the electrical components, including the provision of electrical
contacts that allow communication with the outside.

[0029] Method of the invention provides a number of different
possibilities to provide the conductive pattern and the one or more
conductive interconnections inside an injecting moulding mould. Depending
on the situation and specific needs for the end-product, the skilled
person will be able to determine the most suitable production method for
a specific case.

[0030] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductive
pattern and the one or more conductive interconnections are provided
simultaneously, preferably in the same step. Furthermore, it is preferred
that the conductive pattern is a metallic pattern and/or that the one or
more conductive interconnections are metallic interconnections. Such a
metallic pattern and metallic interconnections can for instance be
prepared using an electroless plating process. Accordingly, in an
embodiment the provision of the conductive pattern and/or the one or more
conductive interconnections comprises in-mould electroless plating. In
electroless plating use is made of the principle that a metal which is
available in ionic form in solution can be reduced by a reducing agent
into its metallic form on a suitable surface. Moreover, the metal itself
should also be catalytic to the reduction reaction, rendering the process
as such autocatalytic. For a general description on electroless plating
processes reference can, for instance, be made to Electroless Plating
Fundamentals & Applications, edited by Glenn O. Mallory and Juan B.
Hajdu, New York, 1990.

[0031] The electroless plating can involve the use of an electroless
plating solution that comprises metal ions and a reducing agent for
reducing the metal ions into the corresponding metal, thereby enabling
the metal to be deposited onto the at least partially moulded body.

[0032] The metal can for instance be selected from the group consisting of
copper, nickel, tin, silver, gold, or any alloy thereof. Also suitable
alloys such as nickel phosphorous and nickel boron can be used.

[0036] In addition, the plating solution may comprise stabiliser, such as
heavy metal ions, an organic or inorganic sulphur-containing compound, an
organic or inorganic selenium-containing compound, or an organic or
inorganic tellur-containing compound.

[0037] Electroless plating may comprise a catalyst seeding step. The
catalyst material can than for instance be incorporated in the moulding
material or additionally applied via a fluid into the mould prior to the
electroless plating solution. This can be done in the same fluid
circuitry that is used for the plating solution.

[0038] To obtain good adhesion between moulded material and metal, it may
be advantageous in some cases to execute a wet etching step prior to
(facultative) catalyst application and subsequent electroless
metallisation. By etching the at least partially moulded body, e.g. a
plastic, can be activated and/or roughened to obtain a densely catalyst
surface and/or a well adherent metallic pattern. The etching fluid may be
applied through the same tubing as the metallisation fluids. A wet
etching step can also be used to expose a catalyst when using a moulding
material comprising a catalyst material.

[0039] Suitably, the conductive pattern and/or the one or more conductive
interconnections are provided by exposing the at least partially moulded
body to an electroless plating solution, whereby at least the surface of
the at least partially moulded body has a temperature or is heated to a
temperature (T1) which is higher than the temperature (T2) of the
electroless plating solution. In this respect, reference can be made to
the non-prepublished European patent application number 07115731.7. This
has the advantages that no catalyst needs to be incorporated in the
moulding material or applied on the substrate surface to initiate and
catalyse the metallisation process. Moreover, metal deposition is rapid
because of the high temperatures applied. Suitably, temperature T1 is in
the range of 50-200° C., preferably in the range of 80-180°
C., more preferably in the range of 70-140° C. Suitably,
temperature T2 is in the range of 15-90° C., preferably in the
range of 15-60° C., more preferably in the range of 15-25°
C. Thus, T2 can suitably be the ambient temperature.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention use is made of metal
paste, i.e. a paste comprising metal particles and a binder material, or
a conductive paint or ink.

[0041] In one embodiment, the provision of the conductive pattern and/or
the provision of said one or more conductive interconnections comprises
[0042] providing the at least partially moulded body with a pattern of a
catalyst for electroless plating of the conductive tracks and/or with a
pattern of catalyst for electroless plating of one or more
interconnections; and [0043] metallising said pattern and/or
interconnections by electroless plating.

[0044] Suitable catalyst materials for electroless plating can for
instance be selected from the group consisting of cobalt, nickel, copper,
rhodium, palladium, platinum, silver, and gold. Palladium is a
particularly preferred catalyst material.

[0045] The pattern of catalyst for the conductive tracks and/or the
pattern of catalyst for the one or more interconnections can be applied
onto the at least partially moulded body by means of a stamp with a
desired pattern provided with said catalyst for electroless plating.
Hence, the patterned stamp is provided with the catalyst material, and
subsequently the stamp is brought into contact with the at least
partially moulded body, thereby transferring the pattern or patterns of
catalyst material onto the at least partially moulded body. Thereafter,
the pattern or patterns of catalyst material can be used as seed for an
electroless plating process during which the pattern for the conductive
tracks and/or the pattern for the interconnections is/are metallised.

[0046] It is also possible to first press a reverse image of the pattern
for the conductive tracks and/or for interconnections into the at least
partially moulded body using a stamp with the desired pattern and thereby
provide the at least partially moulded body with a structured surface (a
surface having recesses and protrusions). Thereafter, a smooth stamp
provided with the catalyst material is used to apply the pattern of the
conductive tracks and/or of the interconnections onto the structured
surface of said at least partially moulded body. By first creating a
structured surface the catalyst material will less likely run out into
the non-desired areas, as opposed to an unstructured surface (a surface
without recesses or protrusions). Thereafter, the pattern of catalyst
material can be used as seed for an electroless plating process during
which the tracks and/or interconnections are metallised.

[0047] Another option is to press a stamp with the desired pattern into
the at least partially moulded body and thereby provide the at least
partially moulded body with a structured surface (a surface having
recesses and protrusions). The patterned stamp can then be provided with
the catalyst material, after which the patterned stamp is used to apply
the catalyst onto the structured surface of the at least partially
moulded body, and the catalyst material is used as seed for an
electroless plating process during which the tracks and/or
interconnections are metallised.

[0048] In another embodiment, the provision of said conductive pattern
and/or the provision of said one or more conductive interconnections
comprises [0049] providing said at least partially moulded body with a
reverse image of said pattern and/or interconnections of inhibition
material; and [0050] metallising said pattern and/or interconnections by
electroless plating.

[0052] The reverse image of the tracks and/or interconnections of
inhibition material can be applied onto the at least partially moulded
body by means of a stamp with the reverse of the desired patterned
structure provided with the inhibition material. Hence, the patterned
stamp is provided with the inhibition material, and subsequently the
stamp is brought into contact with the at least partially moulded body,
thereby transferring the pattern of inhibition material onto the at least
partially moulded body. Thereafter, at least partially moulded body can
be metallised at locations that are free from inhibition material,
thereby providing the at least partially moulded body with the desired
conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive interconnections.

[0053] It is also possible to first press a stamp with the desired pattern
into the at least partially moulded body, and thereby provide the at
least partially moulded body with a structured surface (a surface having
recesses and protrusions). Thereafter, a smooth stamp provided with the
inhibition material can be used to apply the reverse image of the pattern
and/or interconnections of inhibition material onto the structured
surface of said at least partially moulded body. Then, the at least
partially moulded body can be metallised at locations that are free from
inhibition material, thereby providing the at least partially moulded
body with the desired conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive
interconnections.

[0054] Another option is to first press the reverse image into the at
least partially moulded body using a patterned stamp thereby provided the
at least partially moulded body with a structured surface (a surface
having recesses and protrusions). Then, the patterned stamp can be
provided with the inhibition material, after which the patterned stamp is
used to apply the inhibition material onto the structured surface of the
at least partially moulded body. Thereafter, the at least partially
moulded body can be metallised at locations that are free from inhibition
material, thereby providing the at least partially moulded body with the
desired conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive
interconnections.

[0055] After metallisation, the inhibitor material may optionally be
removed. This can for instance be realised by rinsing with a suitable
solvent.

[0056] In the cases where use is made of an inhibition material, the
catalyst material may be provided as a separate step, for instance using
a smooth stamp that is provided with catalyst material. However, it is
also possible to use a moulding material that comprises catalyst material
and thereby inherently acts as seed material for an electroless plating
process. Only at locations where the inhibition material has been
deposited, the moulding material does not metallise. Accordingly, when a
reverse image of the desired pattern and/or interconnections is provided
on the at least partially moulded body, metallisation of the
catalyst-containing mouldable material will only take place at the
desired locations.

[0057] Advantageously, the mould may comprise one or more of the
above-mentioned stamps. Thus, for instance, part of the inner mould wall
can act as a patterned or smooth stamp in the above-mentioned techniques
for providing the at least partially moulded body with a conductive
pattern and one or more conductive interconnections.

[0058] In a favourable embodiment, the method of the invention is
therefore conducted using so-called turn-table moulding. Turn-table
moulding allows a multi-step fabrication process, wherein the product to
be made can be successively rotated along different processing positions
on the turn-table. In between the successive fabrication steps, all
moulds on the turn-table are opened simultaneously, so that the
intermediate products can be rotated to the next positions. The process
is e.g. described in DE-A-3340122. For example, this allows to place,
using e.g. a robot, and fix components in the mould cavity in the first
position on the table, to mould a body in the next one, and to press a
pattern into the moulded body, to apply catalyst material where needed,
to metallise the patterned moulded body at the locations of the catalyst
material and to eject the metallised product in the successive positions
on the table. Naturally, any combination of different mould halves can be
installed on the turn-table, which provides the skilled person with
enormous flexibility of manufacture and possibilities for design. A
fabrication process comprising too many successive steps can be divided
in two or more sub-processes that are carried out on two or more
manufacturing facilities.

[0059] In a manufacturing setup the metallisation fluids may be
transferred from containers into the mould using pumps to transfer the
metallisation fluids through tubing into the mould. In order to protect
mould parts from being damaged by metallisation fluids, the mould parts
can suitably be provided with a protective coating. In particular, a
diamond like carbon coating has been found to be suitable for this
purpose. Advantageously, fluid buffers, pumps and tubing are physically
integrated in the mould.

[0060] Clogging of the electroless plating fluids circuitry (tubings,
pumps, cavities) can be prevented by proper design and material selection
of the components used. More specifically, it has been found that a
periodic cleaning step of the fluidic system, e.g. by purging with
concentrated nitric acid, is suitable to prevent clogging of the fluidic
system. When steel moulds are used in combination with copper
metallisation, for example, it can be advantageous to purge with
concentrated nitric acid, since the copper dissolves fast and the steel
passivates in the nitric acid solution.

[0061] Channels for the flow of the metallisation fluids inside the mould
above the at least partially moulded body can be created by means of
core-pull injection moulding or turn-table injection moulding.

[0062] Pulling a slide above the at least partially moulded body opens a
flow channel inside the mould through which the metallisation fluid(s)
(required to make a conductive track and/or conductive interconnections)
can be pumped. The aspect ratio of a channel (depth-width ratio) is
preferably in the order of 1-10. With a special mould part (a part having
a flow channel as recess) such a channel can also be created at one of
the positions on a turn-table. This approach has the drawback that the
mould and fluid setup becomes very complicated when the desired
conductive circuit comprises several tracks, because every track required
its own flow channel. Furthermore, pitch and width of such tracks
normally have lower limits of about 1 mm and 0.3 mm, respectively.

[0063] The application of an inhibition layer on the at least partially
moulded body enables the metallisation of the entire conductive circuit,
including required interconnections, in one time. Pulling a slide or
using a special mould part creating a slit channel above the part of the
at least partially moulded body defined by the inhibition layer enables a
slit flow of the metallisation fluid(s) over the at least partially
moulded body. The aspect ratio of a slit channel can be (much) smaller
than 1. The lower limits of pitch and width of the tracks in the electric
circuit are typically about 0.001 mm and 0.0005 mm, respectively.

[0064] In yet a further embodiment, the at least partial moulding of the
body comprises a moulding process in which one or more hollows or
channels for the conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive
interconnections are made in or through the at least partially moulded
body. The preparation of such hollows or channels is e.g. described in
WO-A-2008/063063. This is for instance possible by injecting gas or water
in an at least partially moulded body and thereby removing not-yet
solidified matter in order to create one or more hollows or channels.

[0065] Another possibility is to apply core-pull injection moulding, in
which one or more slides having circular or other cross-sections can be
pulled out of the least partially moulded body in order to create one or
more hollows or channels. The one or more hollows and/or channels so
created then provide the design (or at least part of the design) for the
conductive pattern and/or one or more conductive interconnections (see
e.g. WO-A-2008/063063). Thus, in order to allow the particular conductive
pattern to be deposited, the plating solution comprising the metal ions
and reducing agent can be put into contact with the desired parts of the
at least partially moulded body by way of the one or more created hollows
and/or channels.

[0066] Suitably, two or more of the different embodiments and
possibilities for providing the at least partially moulded body with the
conductive pattern and the one or more conductive interconnections can be
combined depending on the specific needs.

[0067] At least the steps of at least partially moulding of the body,
providing the conductive pattern, and providing the one or more
conductive interconnections can be repeated a number of times to create
complex devices, such as a repetition of 2-20 times, preferably 2-10
times. The present invention enables the interconnection between circuits
and/or components situated in different layers, metallising connecting
conductive tracks and/or vias internally.

[0068] For some applications it may be desirable to use conventional
printing circuit board interconnection techniques in addition to the one
or more interconnections provided by the method of the invention. Thus,
in addition, electrical components may be interconnected by semi-additive
and fully additive interconnecting, (lead-free) soldering, reflow
soldering, wire bonding, and/or conductive gluing.

[0069] For some applications it may also be desirable to make use of other
techniques known in the art to make conductive patterns and/or
interconnections, such as moulding with conductive polymers, thin film
technology, thick film technology, the incorporation of conductive glues
and/or pastes, painting with conductive material, and/or printing with
conductive ink.

[0070] In a further aspect the invention is directed to a body comprising
an integrated electric circuit as obtained according to the method of the
invention, while full advantage is taken of the design freedom with
respect to the form of the body. A wide variety of moulded bodies
comprising a conductive pattern can be prepared. Suitable examples of
such products include, but are not limited to, three-dimensional electric
circuits, such as interconnection parts, sensors, antenna structures
and/or actuators, and articles such as bathroom articles, reflectors,
jewellery, reflectors, toys or decorative articles.

[0071] In yet a further aspect the invention is directed to a device
comprising a body as obtained according to the method of the invention.
The manufacturing of such a body is incorporated in the manufacture
process of the device, and the body becomes a structurally and/or
decoratively integrated part of the device. Suitable examples include but
are not limited to devices for use in automotive applications,
communication applications (such as mobile phones) computers, consumers
electronics (such as digital cameras), health and surveillance systems,
safety and monitoring systems, and processing applications.

[0072] The invention will now further be illustrated by means of the
following Examples.

EXAMPLES

[0073] In an injection moulding setup the feasibility of in mould
metallisation was demonstrated.

[0074] The mould used had a rectangular cavity (dimensions:
20×20×2 mm3) with an edge injection gate. FIG. 1 is a
schematic presentation of the mould with square cavity and slide (edge
gate not shown); at the left with slide closed, at the right with slide
pulled. In the stationary part of the mould a slide is installed which,
when pulled, opens a flow channel above the moulded part. The channel
runs the entire height of the cavity, having a width of 2 mm. The depth
of the channel can be adjusted in the range of 0.2 to 3.0 mm. With small
tubing installed at both sides of the channel the in- and outflow of
metallisation liquids is enabled. A syringe pump completes the flow
system ensuring a steady, slow throughput of the liquids.

[0075] In all injection metallisation experiments a non-catalytic, glass
fibre reinforced polyamide (PA4/6 GF30) was injected at a melt
temperature of 320° C., and the slide was pulled for 2.0 mm.

[0076] Metallisation was conducted in one set of experiments by means of
the catalytic metallisation approach. Metallisation comprised a palladium
catalyst seeding step with the commercial available CU9040 solution of
Cookson Electronics, followed by electroless plating with the copper
containing CU9070 solution, also of Cookson Electronics.

[0077] A mould temperature of 90° C. resulted in copper deposition
on that part of the PA substrate becoming available for metallisation
after pulling of the slide. FIG. 2 shows a detail of the partly
metallised substrate.

[0078] In another set of experiments the thermally triggered metallisation
route was followed.

[0079] In this case, no catalyst seeding was required to yield copper
deposition. A copper sulphate (CuSO4.5H2O) containing fluid, as
described in Electroless plating of copper at a low pH level of R.
Jagannathan and M. Krishnan, IBM J. Res. Develop., 1993, 37(2): p. 117,
was successfully employed for metallisation. However, adjustment of the
indicated composition was needed to trigger the copper deposition
reaction in the mould having a temperature of 120° C. The
electroless plating solution used had a pH of 9.0, contained
CuSO4.5H2O in an amount of 0.032 mol/l, was buffered with
triethanolamine at a concentration of 0.31 mol/l, stabilised with
1,5,8,12-tetraazaundodecane as complexing agent at 0.035 mol/l, and
contained as reducing agent dimethylaminoborane at 0.13 mol/l.